RakonHeli Mcpx BL

I loved the Mcpx, but it was underpowered, and difficult for my dumb thumbs to invert. I could flip it to an inverted hover, but barely able to recover from the bog. There is not much room for error on that machine, and it needed a level of control that I don’t process. Luckily with RKH upgrades, the thing is virtually indestructible. I’ve put that thing in the ground a few times with each pack, and yet to have anything break.

When the 130x came out, I pretty much stopped flying the mcpx. It is stable and powerful, yet still small enough to fly in a small park. With RKH upgrades for the 130x, it flew like it’s on rails. Here is my previous review on the 130x and mcpx complete upgrades from RKH.

Then the Mcpx BL came out. Eflite addressed and improved greatly on the issues of power. With the Brushless and 2s power,  they’ve transformed a temperamental mosquito, into a twitchy beast. I am able to easily get in and out of inverted, unlike the brushed version that required a level of finesse that I lack. So when my friends at RKH asked me if I would like a review their upgrades for the Mcpx BL, I jumped at the chance.

I opt for the “Gold” version of the upgrade, purely because it was different than RKH’s usual Silver or Red options. It is not a color that I’d normally have chosen, but I was curious what it looked like in person. I was afraid that it would be too gaudy, the bling out gold look just isn’t my style, since I prefer the boring Silver offerings. To my surprise, the gold reminds me more of Iron Man, not jewery gold. It looks cool.

Now, looks isn’t everything. If it doesn’t perform well, it would just look good collecting dust on the shelf. I’m happy to say that the complete RKH upgrade flies beautifully. To be honest, I’m not at the level that I could really notice a performance increase, but I know for sure that it fly great. Everything feels nice and smooth, and I am able to get out of some ugly inverted situations with no problems. I love the design of RKH’s products, they simply work as promised. When they first came on the scene with the 120 upgrades, there were some minor growing pains. But since then, all of the RKH parts that I've tried, fit and work perfectly.

Now the big question.... Weight? When upgrading from plastic to aluminum, weight is always a huge concern. Especially at this size, any small amount of weight gain is potentially problematic. I'm happy to say, that the weight gain is at 0.9 g (stock 60.1 g vs RKH 61.0 g ). The main frame is replaced by CF, which looks nice and is very strong and light. The tail boom was also replaced by a solid CF, as well as a solid CF main shaft. Tail boom supports were also added, and added tail heat sink. So when you add it all up, it's a miracle that the weight increase is less than a gram. I can not feel any difference in flying with this minimal weight increase. I also switched to the RKH yellow blades. They work great, and adds great visibility to the heli.

RKH 130x & Mcpx BL

RKH also offer DFC setup, which I have yet to try. With the normal setup, the heli just flies perfectly. I’d have to say that the RKH 130x is still my favorite heli, but RKH Mcpx BL is a close second. Overkill? Yes of course! An ear-to-ear grinning Yes.

RakonHeli Blade mcpx BL upgrades

RakonHeli 130x and Mcpx

My friends at RakonHeli sent me their complete upgrades for the Blade Mcpx, as well as the Blade 130x for review. Previously I had reviewed their Blade 120 upgrades, which you can read here. The 130x and Mcpx are both great little helis, and the 130x is now my favorite little rc heli, capable to handling everything my dumb thumbs throws at it. These are both very small helis, and are very durable stock, and fly great. The negatives on the 130x, is that the tails are fairly fragile, and the Mcpx's biggest problem is bogging the tail. Both of these problems are solved by the RKH upgrades. Is it overkill though? YES, you don't need this sort of bling on a little hell like this.... but is it cool? YES!

Blade 130x RKH upgrades

Blade Mcpx RKH upgrades

Weight:
My biggest concern is the weight difference. But to be honest, I can not tell the difference in flight between stock and complete RKH upgrades.

Mcpx

Mcpx stock at 45.7g (flying weight with battery)

Mcpx RKH upgrades 46.6g (flying weight with battery)

 130x

130x stock at 114.9g (flying weight with battery)

130x RKH upgrades: 117.8g(flying weight with battery)

Design Benefits:

With the 130x, there are a host of issues with the stock tail, which the RKH have held up with no issues. I am very please with everything, and it just looks/feels solid. Since the upgrade, no strip gears, linkage issues etc.

RKH 130x Head

RKH Heads on the 130x, and the Mcpx, keeps the links in place. Since the upgrade, I haven't lost a single link since the upgrade.

RKH 130x swash, hub, grips holds the links in place

RKH Mcpx swash, hub, grips Holds the links in place

With the RKH Mcpx upgrades, you get a choice of booms, including longer/thicker, or even duel motor. I used the thick and longer boom, opting out of the double tail motor.... with my skills, the tail holds great with the longer boom, and I haven't had the need for double motor. The tail now holds well, and feels much more solid. I'm not a 3D pilot though, so some of you out there may find the double tail very attractive.

Longer & thicker RKH Mcpx tail boom
Stock (top) vs RKH (bottom)
Note: the Mcpx thicker tail boom will require the RKH frame with adaptor

RKH Mcpx tail with heat sink.

Note:  Available for RKH 130x upgrades, is the DFC setup. I have not tried this yet.... I doubt that at my skill level, that I could take advantage or notice the difference.

Also to note: I've opted out of the RKH skids on both of these helis. This is just a stylistic choice, preferring the stock skids look.


Durability:
These small helis are already very durable, compared to the larger helis. Common issues are loosing a bunch of links on the head, and constant tail gear/links issues on the 130x. So how does the aluminum upgrades hold up? overkill.... I think it'll be almost impossible to break any of these parts. Believe me, I've tried. Not on purpose, but I have had my share of hard crashes. I mostly fly over grass, but have had many full speed plunges from dozens of feet high straight into the grass. If I had crashed that hard on one of my 400 sized blinged out helis, the damage would have been catastrophc. But because of the small size, these things are uber durable, especially aluminumed out.

RKH Mcpx head vs stock head

RKH 130x

Caution:
on the 130x, be careful on the body posts when threading them in. I made a mistake of threading them in too tight, and destroying the plastic frame. After getting a new frame (which cheap, but a real pain to replace), I threaded the posts in just snug.... but did not put thead lock on it. Mistake. I lost one of the posts in flight, never to be found again. So I'd recommend using thread locker, and not over tightening them!

Be careful not to over tighten body posts
and use thead lock!

Conclusion:
So is it worth it? Well, I can only speak for myself... an average guy with dumb thumbs, capable of only some acrobatics, not 3D. The only inverted that I can pull off, is a head in hover. For me, they tails for both of these are worth getting, and the rest are just bling. These little stock helis just look and feel cheap next to the bigger counterparts. And the RKH parts makes some performance and durability gains, at a minimum weight increase, making them feel as solid as bigger helis. So if you're into looks, or just into having well built machines that probably won't ever break, RKH may be right for you. Of course, debate over if it's worth it, all comes down to what it means to you. The parts do add up quickly, and that is probably the biggest consideration.

Eflite is coming out with a new Mcpx BL soon, which I am very excited for. It is uncertain how much common parts will be between the normal and brushless. My main complaint about the Mcpx, with or without the RKH upgrade, is the lack of power. At my skill level, I constantly bog the motor down. The RKH parts seem to have fixed the tail bogging issue for the most part, but it still lacks power on the main motor. I'm very curious as to how much better the BL version will be.

In short, the RKH parts do not disappoint. It is overkill in the way that the finest machines are. And unlike some of the previous minor issues that the 120 RKH upgrades had, I can not find any fault to these two upgrades. Every thing fits perfectly, smooth and solid. The bling comes in anodized red, and natural silver aluminum, both are gorgeous.